Improvement in lifting-jack



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GEORGE wfwINDsoE, or ALLEGIIENY CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIeNonro EIMSELII AND JOHN E. E EILsrEIN, or sAMErLAcE.

' Leners Parent No. 105,534., aaa July' 19-1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN LIFTING--J ACK.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent'and making-pmt or the same To all 'whom t may concern:

. Be it known that I, GEORGE W. WINDSOR, ofv Allegheny City, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lifting-J ack; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof,

reference bein ghad to thcaccompanying drawing making a part of this specification, in which`- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved lifting-jack, with the jaws of the grapple engaging-au object to be raised; l

Figure 2 is a detached view of a portion ofthe same i. which supports, in a cap or plate, a ball-and-'socket joint. A threaded elevating-stem Vpasses up through the ball, and is raised and lowered by a nut and wrench. The grapple is attached to the lower end of the elevating stem. r

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improvement, I will proceed to describe its construction and mode of operation, with particular referenceto its use in lifting railroad ties for the rebal.- lastingof the track.

The legs b ofthe tripodare connected by a common This plate a, in oonnechinge-joint to the plate a. tion with a cap, a', fastened thereto, by screws or otherwise, is so formed as.to give a socket for the ball c, whereby is secured a ball-and-socket joint.

The ball c is perforated for a threaded elevating stern, d, to pass through, which stem israiser orflowered either by tapping the hole or eye of the ball c,

and turning it by a Wrench applied to a head, c', made thereon, or by a wrench and separate nut. f

Hung to'the lower end of the stem d isl a grapple, which consists of a pair of jaws, e, made with re-en- `tra-nt points, e.

Between the"ends'of the jaws e, at any suitable point, is hinged a pair of bars, fi, which are hinged to each other at theiroppositev ends, and also to a shifting-bar, h, the upper end of which is, in turn, hinged to a lever, g.

These devices are of suchrelative lengths and so. arranged, substantially as shown, as that the elevating of the haudleof the lever g shallthrow the jaws c apart, and the depressing of the handle, forcibly or by itsown weight, shall cause them to come together and take a secure bite on the tie a.

'lo raise a tie, I set up the tripod directly over it, lower the stem d to the proper point, open the jaws of the grapple, by means of the lever g, till a point, e', engages each side of the tie; then drop the lever g and hoist away by power applied to the nut or head c', by means of a wrench or lever, f. The greater the `weight to bef raised the more securely the jaws will retain their hold.

Ordinarily, the 4tie u needs to be raised but a short distance, and, practically, it should be raised exactly to a certain level, and there securely ballasted. This accuracy cannot besecured by prying up the ties with a lever, as is ordinarily done. By the use of the devices described, each' tie can be raised to exactly thc height required? and there held securely till it is properly ballasted. Or, the ties may be'raised successively lby one set of laborers in the gang, blocked up to the level required, and ballasted 'by another set of laborers who follow after. r

For a combination tool, I have made the bar f with a wrench-hole, s, by means of which the nut o r head c is operated and the tie raised; also, with a claw,s, in one end, for drawing spikes, and with a tampinghead, s, at the other end, for packing the ballasting under each tie. This head should be made broad, and may be 'slightly curved in its fiat faces, so as to bethe more effective inwerking under the tie.

The opening o through the plate a, under the ball e, is made less in size, of course, than the horizontal diameter of the ball, but larger than the diameter of the stem d, so that the latter may work freely at all times, even though the tripod may be set out of level. The devices described may be made of such size and weight asl to be readily used and easily moved from tie t-o tie, or transported on a hand-car from place to place, and may be used for other purposes than those set forth.

A single man can operate it, and do the same work which heretofore, in prying up the ties, it has required two or three meu to do.

It can be used entirely outside of the track, so that the work of raising and ballasting can' be carried on with little or no regard to passing trains.

The perforated ball c, in connection with a socket or seat, in which itcan move freely and adapt itself to the direction in which the elevating power should act, and also in connection with an opening in the seat Aunder the ballsomewhat larger than the-size of the elevating stern, I also claim, byitSeIf, as an improvement in elevating apparatus generally, and such devices l apply to lifting-cranes, timber-wheels, hoisting- Iderricks, and elevating apparatus generally.

I amaware that it is not new to operate a threaded elevating stem through a head-block to which are attached the legs of a tripod; butI am not` aware of the previous use of a ball-and-socket joint in such a connection as above described; nor do I clain the grapple by itself.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In the construction of a hoisting apparatus, a

spherical ball, c, resting in a seat in a supportingplate, in combination with a threaded elevating stem, d, and threaded nut or head c', the aperture of the seat under the ball being larger than the stem, arranged substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

2. A lifting-jack, consisting of a tripod and ball-andsocket joint, the ball being perforated for the stem (l, tothe lower end of which is-hinged a grapple, provided with shifting-bar and lever, constructed substan 

